Within the Centre for Biomedicine & Global Health, our research comprises an experienced multi-disciplinary group of experts working together to investigate human health from cradle to grave, examining the causes of disease, encompassing the developmental origins of disease, childhood and adult disease. Our members come from an array of different backgrounds, including human clinical and biomedical scientists, hospital consultants, chemists and immunologists.

Napier’s academics and researchers are interested in early-stage drug discovery for mycobacterial infections, and the use of host defence peptides to clear bacteria as well as the use of dynamic microfluidic systems for drug screening purposes.

Recent TB project examples:

1. Solid drug NPs (SDNs) of the first-line anti-TB antibiotics were developed (in collaboration with The University of Liverpool) and screened against intracellular infections and compared to conventional antibiotics, and were found to be significantly more effective at clearing bacteria (https://doi.org/10.1002/jin2.27).

2. It was found that by increasing rifampicin (RIF) dosages could significantly reduce TB treatment durations. Understanding the pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamics (PK–PD) of increasing RIF dosages could inform clinical regimen selection (https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics11060278).

3. Recent failures of preclinical models in predicting the activity of fluoroquinolones underline the importance of developing new and more robust predictive tools that will optimize the design of future trials. We used high-content imaging screening and pharmacodynamic intracellular (PDi) modelling to identify and prioritise fluoroquinolones for TB treatment. In a set of studies designed to validate this approach, we show moxifloxacin to be the most effective fluoroquinolone, and PDi modelling-based Monte Carlo simulations accurately predict negative culture conversion (sputum sterilisation) rates compared to eight independent clinical trials (https://doi.org/10.1128/aac.00989-19).

4. Host Defence Peptides, LL-37 and D-LL37, as novel therapeutic approaches for Mycobacterial infections: an ongoing project is looking at the anti-bacterial properties of 2 HDP in clearing intracellular mycobacterial infections compared to conventional antibiotics.

Centre member (Dr S Donnellan) was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to undertake MDR-TB related research in Cape Town, South Africa, and during this period, became a member of the NGO, TB Proof. Through involving communities affected by TB and using the latest research, TB Proof advocates for high-quality TB prevention and care.